Vancouver drag queen to do story time in Maple Ridge

A drag queen best known in the Vancouver nightclub scene for her interpretations of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pee Wee Herman and Annie Lennox is coming to Maple Ridge to host a storytime for children in a new pop-up play space.

Mina Mercury, who has been doing drag for 25 years, created Kids and Queens two years ago. As part of her program, drag queens read stories to children centered around Pride Week in Vancouver.

The event proved to be a hit attracting families as far away as Abbotsford.

And Melissa Maltais, founder of Seedibles Café, after reading about the event in a news article, decided that when she launched her new café, she was going to feature the same thing.

Seedibles Café is a new play space for children up to five years old and where their parents can enjoy a coffee, beverage or snack and socialize with others.

For now, the café will only be open from the April launch until June as Maltais is testing the waters to see if this is a viable business for the community.

“I want to create a community hub for parents and caregivers. I want to bring in speakers. I want to create a space where people can come together,” said Maltais.

She added that for some parents with young children, it can be quite alienating when they are home alone, especially if they have just moved to the community.

Mercury will be reading The Terrible Plop, by Ursula Dubosarsky and Andrew Joyner, about an unexplained noise in the forest that leads to pandemonium among he animals, and Red: A Crayon’s Story, by Michael Hall, about a crayon with a red label that is in fact blue.

Mercury describes the readings as over the top, campy and fun.

“The whole experience for the kids when it happens is the fact that you are not just anyone. You almost look like you’ve actually stepped out of the book. With drag you’ve already created a character,” he said.

“When you walk into a room with a bunch of children, they look at you, they think you are like a princess,” said Mercury.